Board and Commission Meeting Dates

Home   |   Calendar   |   Help


...................Commission................... ......Normal date...... ...............Time and location............... For more information ....Notes
 
Cable Access Commission 3rd Thursday 7:30pm 4 Martine Avenue 422-1419 Not every month
Common Council Meeting 1st Monday 7:30pm Council Chambers 422-1227
Common Council Working Sessions 3rd Thursday 6:00pm Mayor's Conference Room 422-1227
Community Development 3rd Wednesday 7:00pm Council Chambers 422-1252
Conservation Board 3rd Monday 8:00pm Council Chambers 422-1252
Design Review Board 2nd & 4th Monday 7:00pm Council Chamber 422-1269
Human Rights Commission 4th Tuesday 6:00pm Council Chamber 422-1360
Library Board of Trustees 3rd Tuesday 7:00pm WP Public Library 422-1406
Planning Board 3rd Tuesday 7:00pm Council Chamber 422-1252
Recreation Advisory Committee 3rd Thursday 8:00pm 85 Gedney Way 422-1336
Traffic Commission 3rd Wednesday 8:30am Council Chamber 422-1316
Urban Renewal Agency As announced Mayor's Conference Room 422-1411
Youth Board 1st Thursday 7:00pm 11 Amherst Place 422-1378
Zoning Board of Appeals 1st Wednesday 7:00pm Council Chamber 422-1283

For anyone not familiar with the functions of the various boards, I offer the following explanations. If anyone has better, or can offer enlightenment on other boards, please send them along.

Common Council

White Plains is governed by a Common Council which consists of a mayor and six other council members elected at large. The seven-member Common Council is the City's policy making legislative body. It enacts laws and performs the administrative functions of establishing municipal departments and positions, prescribing duties, and fixing salaries. It adopts a budget, appropriates monies, grants franchises, and sells or leases properties. The Council must approve appointments to key administrative posts made by the mayor.

Department of Planning

The Planning Department is responsible for advising the Mayor and Common Council on current and long-term land use, planning and development issues. The Department prepares and updates a wide range of planning and land use studies and databases on its own initiative and upon request from the Common Council, the Planning Board, the Board of Appeals and various other boards and departments. The Department also coordinates and assists economic development initiatives in the community and provides staff support to the interdepartmental Zoning Task Force which makes recommendations on revisions to the City Zoning Ordinance

The Planning Department also administers a variety of federally assisted activities including the Community Development Block Grant and Section 8 Programs, and serves as staff to the Urban Renewal Agency.

Planning Board

The Planning Board recommends to the Common Council amendments, extensions, additions and other changes in and to the city's official plan as seem desirable to the board. They recommend to the Common Council changes in the city's zoning ordinance which the board deems advisable. They consider plans for public housing and the re-planning, rehabilitation, improvement and redevelopment of neighborhoods.

Department of Building

The Department of Building is responsible for the enfrocement of the Ordinances of the City of White Plains (and all applicable County and State Laws) which regulate the use and occupancy of private land and structures for the purpose of securing the public safety, health and general welfare through structural strength, stability, means of egress, adequate light and ventilation, and safety to life and property from fire and other hazards incident to the design, construction, alteration, addition, repair, removal, demolition, use and occupancy of buildings, structures, or premises.

City Ordinances enforced by the Department include the Building and Plumbing Codes, the Zoning Ordinance, the Minimum Housing Standards Ordinance, Air Pollution Control Ordinance, Sign & Awning Ordinance, Noise Ordinance, the Scaffold and Staging Ordinance, and the Smoke Abatement Ordinance, and Look Alike Ordinance. State Laws enforced include the Multiple Residence Law, the State Labor, Law and the State Industrial Code.

Design Review Board

The Design Review Board reviews and approves building designs, landscaping, and site plans to ensure an aesthetic design and compliance with the City's codes.

Conservation Board

The Conservation Board reviews building plans with an eye towards preserving the city's stock of open space, environmentally sensitive areas, and trees.

Zoning Board of Appeals

The Zoning Board of Appeals, a quasi-judicial body, consists of five members and a secretary, all of whom are appointed by the Mayor. Because zoning ordinances are in many respects technical and restrictive, the Zoning Board of Appeals may grant relief where hardship or practical difficulty would result if the ordinances were strictly followed. The Board may permit certain reasonable differences from the Zoning Ordinance itself where the community and applicant would mutually benefit. The Zoning Board of Appeals also passes on all applications for permits for Special uses listed in the Zoning Ordinance that are subject to review.

Traffic Commission

The Traffic Commission considers the reports, recommendations, and suggestions of public and private agencies, civic groups, and citizens concerning traffic conditions and traffic control in the city.

Human Rights Commission

THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS COMBATS DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SEX, AGE, COLOR, RACE, ARREST, RELIGION, DISABILITY, FAMILIAL STATUS, NATIONAL ORIGIN AND MARITAL STATUS AND PROMOTES EQUAL OPPORTUNITY IN HOUSING, EMPLOYMENT AND PUBLIC ACCOMMODATION.

The Commission on Human Rights was created by the Common Council to:

- Foster Compliance with the Human Rights Law
- Develop positive relationships among racial and ethnic groups
- Investigate and adjust individual complaints of discrimination
- Examine situations which may create community tensions and devise means to rectify them
- Design activities to eliminate bigotry and carry them out with community help
- Conduct studies and surveys
- Assist employers in developing affirmative action plans and programs
- Advise the Mayor and Common Council

Obligations

- To receive complaints of discrimination based on race, creed, color, or national origin; to seek the active assistance of the State Division of Human Rights in the solution of complaints which fall within the jurisdiction of the State Division; and to prepare its own plans in the case of other complaints with a view toward reducing and eliminating such alleged discrimination through the process of conference.
- To hold conferences and other public meetings in the interest of the constructive solution of racial, religious or nationality group tensions and prejudice and discrimination occasioned thereby.
- To enlist the cooperation and participation of the various racial, religious, and national origin groups, community organizations, media or mass communication, fraternal and benevolent associations, and other groups in the educational campaign devoted to foster among the diverse groups of the community, mutual esteem, justice and equity.

Additional Duties:

- To enforce the City's Fair Housing Ordinance
- The Commission acts as the Affirmative Action Office for the city. Part of those duties include, but are not limited to: developing policy recommendations for the Mayor and Common Council; assisting the Personnel Department and line Management in resolving employment problems by joint development of specific remedies and collecting and analyzing employment data and identifying problem areas.

BID

The mission of the White Plains Downtown District Management Association (WPDDMA), also known as the White Plains Business Improvement District is to plan and finance services and improvements to promote business activity and to help revitalize the downtown and to maintain and enhance the economic viability of the downtown White Plains shopping district.


The BID:


EXECUTIVE BOARD

Tree Preservation Committee

The City of White Plains has adopted Tree Preservation Guidelines. The primary goal of these guidelines is to enhance both the aesthetic and environmental qualities of properties, protect and preserve worthwhile healthy trees and plant new trees whenever possible on properties which are proposed for development.

The Tree Preservation Guidelines apply to:

Changes to single and two-family homes constructed prior to November 5, 1984, which involve no physical additions to the building's footprint or do not involve the construction of an accessory structure such as a garage or deck are exempt from the Tree Preservation Guidelines.

Application and Approval Agency: Applications are made to and reviewed by the Department of Building, which refers them to the agency designated by the Zoning Ordinance as responsible for approvals. Approving agencies are required to use the Tree Preservation Guidelines in their review of applications for site plans, special permits, variances, conservation developments and conventional subdivisions. These applications must include a Tree Preservation Plan (Tree Plan).

The Tree Preservation Committee (consisting of representatives of the Commissioners of Public Works and Planning and the Environmental Officer) examines the application and the Tree Plan, visits the site, and makes written recommendations to the approving agency, based on the standards listed in the Guidelines. The approving agency may include these recommendations as part of the approval. Recommendations may include tree protection, or tree removal and planting of new trees. Once approved, a Tree Plan becomes a permanent part of the approval record for the property.

Standards and Procedures: The standards and procedures for Tree Preservation include the following: The applicant must submit a complete tree inventory. The inventory shall include "specimen" and "protected" trees as defined in the Guidelines. All trees with a minimum trunk diameter of eight (8") inches at a point four (4') feet above the natural grade and groupings of twenty (20) or more trees.

Based on the inventory and site inspection made by the Tree Preservation Committee, trees to be preserved must be identified and tagged. The applicant is required to protect these trees during the construction phase. A planting plan may be required in accordance with the Tree Preservation Guidelines to compensate for trees lost as a result of the construction on the property.

A final tree inspection is conducted by the Tree Preservation Committee when the project is completed to assure compliance with the Tree Preservation Guidelines and with any Tree Plan approved for the site. appointed by the Mayor. Because zoning ordinances are in many respects technical and restrictive, the Zoning Board of Appeals may grant relief where hardship or practical difficulty would result if the ordinances were strictly followed. The Board may permit certain reasonable differences from the Zoning Ordinance itself where the community and applicant would mutually benefit. The Zoning Board of Appeals also passes on all applications for permits for




Donations e-mail